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Lothar Matthaus believes Mesut Ozil is not guaranteed a place in Germany's starting line-up at the World Cup.

The 25-year-old, who joined Arsenal from Real Madrid in a club-record £42.5m deal, has faced criticism over his form following a missed penalty against Bayern Munich in the Champions League in February.

Matthaus – who was a key part of Germany's World Cup triumph in 1990 – believes Ozil could subsequently lose his place in Joachim Low's starting side, especially given the wealth of talent available.

“Ozil has no guaranteed place in the starting lineup,” he told Kicker. “Especially in his position as we have a lot of quality. First of all, he must prevail there. He could be the loser if you look at the way Low let his team play recently.

“But you always expect more from him than from other players. I don't think Ozil is untouchable. “

Julian Draxler, Mario Gotze and Thomas Muller will all be fighting with Ozil for a spot in Low's starting line-up for their opening game against Portugal on June 16.